Bahamas Islands of Adventures!

The Bahamas are a network of islands, keys and rocks which are scattered towards the east of Florida. There are around 2,000 although only 30 are populated with the country’s 400,000 residents. Over 300,000 live on the island of Nassau which is the Capital despite not being its biggest island; measuring 7 miles long by 21 miles wide! The interesting thing is that these details about the Country were given to us by a driver of one of shuttles we took back to the Ship!

This was our next stop on the Disney Cruise and would be the most exciting day of the trip. The visit to the island of Nassau was the only island we prepared for ahead of time by reserving an excursion weeks in advance. The reason was that it was the opportunity to get a chance to interact with Dolphins after my daughter has just become old enough to do so. I had done before with my wife in Cancun and my daughter has been wanting to do it since she saw the pictures. We went to Dolphin Cove which is part of the Atlantis Resort on Paradise island. We were lucky to get an early time spot so that we could spend the rest of the day exploring the property.

The Atlantis is an impressive property as it has thousands of rooms, dozens of shops and restaurants, two aquariums, beaches, and a waterpark! On our way to the Dolphins we explored the The Dig Aquarium which is an integral part of the Resort as it serve as the canvas to those dining and walking in the lobby of the hotel. There were so great views as the marine life isn’t shy to roam around the tanks. The ruins that were made to simulate the lost City of Atlantis are pretty cool considering they are well maintained. There was an amazing moment we a large Manta Ray came slowly towards the viewing area; everyone was is awe as photographed it!

We then headed to the Dolphin Cove which was a great area for those watching and participating. After an instructional video and putting on some wetsuits, we headed to the water with a group of families. It was awful that they did not allow picture taking but they obviously took them for you which in hindsight was good as it allowed us to enjoy the experience much more. Similar to us Dolphins on Steem, they are extraordinary creatures as they have great senses of community and bringing happiness. The children participating were not the only ones enjoying the time with them as even the adults were amazed on how the Dolphins engaged with them. Best of all for me was the ability to watch my daughter have the best smiles I have ever seen from her before. It was well worth it.

Afterwards, we spent the rest of the afternoon in the Waterpark where my daughter and I had some great slides on tubes as well as a great ride on the rapid river around the park! Despite being full of tourists, the lines and space available were great as it was never really a long time to do what we wanted to do. Even the popular slides were not more than a couple of minutes wait. We decided to head back a little earlier as we wanted to also stop a store we drove by when leaving the port in the morning as I had not gotten my wife a Mother’s Day gift yet! A quick walk back and we were back on the Ship for Pirates of the Caribbean Night was also some great fun!

Also in the Bahamas is Disney’s own private island, Castaway Cay. Only for Disney Cruise guests, the island has definitely improved since they last time we were here when my wife was pregnant years ago. We got off early today to see the views and the new activities available and my daughter and I immediately went for a bike ride around the island. After a few pictures at the highest point of the island, we headed back to the beach to cool off in the Caribbean water while my daughter swam. I then found a great spot to start writing this post as I am lucky to see that I have connectivity today.

I have not engaged with the community outside my posts for three days now as I have really taken the time to spend with the family and enjoy the vacation days. I have to admit that although I miss engaging, I think I needed some rest from the engagement so that I can gain perspective and remind me why I enjoy it so much. I have not missed the feed as I have been through most of it and curated accordingly and have a bunch of favorited posts to get through in the coming days. While I am not sure how long it will take to get through then all, at least I am pretty happy at the cadence I have established in not reviewing the feed. Going to be bed without spending the last hour on my device is quite refreshing!

Back home tomorrow early with a long week ahead of me but this was a great way to recharge some energy for the mid-year. The crazy though is that I have had two vacation this year already with another two weeks planned for June when I will be in Europe as promised to the family. It will be the first time ever that I take more than my allotted vacation time from work and it is well worth it. While Inmay have preferred using the money for my Crypto portfolio, I think the value I am getting from the experiences is worth much more. That bike ride today with my daughter will go down as a memorable moment until the last of mine! The more I am able to get, the better!